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The Big Wigs are coming - Quick, everyone start behaving!

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  • The Big Wigs are coming - Quick, everyone start behaving!

    We have some big shots from corporate dropping by the center in a couple of weeks and already we've received no less than 4 emails from our center managers filled with new rules and directives in preparation for their arrival, including:

    - Our usual dress code is usually loose, but now it's strict business casual/absolutely no JEANS!

    - If our desk doesn't look PERFECTLY organized we are now "marked for death". Well, not really but you get the idea.

    - Any food stored in the fridge other than drinks must now be in a tupperware container, no exceptions.

    - Everyone, please smile more!

    - Oh and also, we are supposed to brush up on our companies 5 rules of awesome (not actually called that) and be able to recite them from memory at a moments notice.

    - Also, be professional at all times. Don't cuss, don't complain. Not in the bathrooms, not in the break room, not even on the sidewalk outside the building.

    The sad part is, I think these corporate types are fully aware that the centers go to great lengths to "dress the place up" and act all proper while they're here. If they REALLY want to see how we operate, they should set up a hidden camera and watch it a few times a day/week/whatever.

    I just hate how we have to be so phony when these kinds of things happen.

    We're one of the top centers in our region, we're doing our jobs. Why can't they leave well enough alone?
    "If we refund your money, give you a free replacement and shoot the manager, then will you be happy?" - sign seen in a restaurant

  • #2
    Quoth CrazedClerkthe2nd View Post
    - Any food stored in the fridge other than drinks must now be in a tupperware container, no exceptions.
    So cheaper alternatives (Gladware, the HDPE storage containers from the dollar store, etc) are forbidden? It has to be genuine Tupperware? Sounds like someone in management is selling the stuff.

    You say that you're one of the top centers in the region? Perhaps the top brass are visiting in order to see WHY you're doing so well (I believe this was the subject of a M*A*S*H episode). Maybe the "if it doesn't impact customer service, it doesn't matter" looseness was part of why your center was better than so many others.
    Any fool can piss on the floor. It takes a talented SC to shit on the ceiling.

    Comment


    • #3
      Quoth wolfie View Post
      So cheaper alternatives (Gladware, the HDPE storage containers from the dollar store, etc) are forbidden? It has to be genuine Tupperware? Sounds like someone in management is selling the stuff.

      You say that you're one of the top centers in the region? Perhaps the top brass are visiting in order to see WHY you're doing so well (I believe this was the subject of a M*A*S*H episode). Maybe the "if it doesn't impact customer service, it doesn't matter" looseness was part of why your center was better than so many others.
      To the first part, I believe the directive actually stated "plastic containers" to which I inaccurately represented as Tupperware (a specific brand of said containers).

      The second part, I agree with.
      "If we refund your money, give you a free replacement and shoot the manager, then will you be happy?" - sign seen in a restaurant

      Comment


      • #4
        I think all businesses do this when the Big Wigs come to visit. Even when hours are cut basically to nothing, suddenly it's okay to schedule an entire extra crew the night before they come, to clean up the store. I hate it! They need to freaking SEE how destroyed the store is because THEY force management to cut hours/shifts!
        Replace anger management with stupidity management.

        Comment


        • #5
          Quoth CrazedClerkthe2nd View Post

          The sad part is, I think these corporate types are fully aware that the centers go to great lengths to "dress the place up" and act all proper while they're here. If they REALLY want to see how we operate, they should set up a hidden camera and watch it a few times a day/week/whatever.

          I just hate how we have to be so phony when these kinds of things happen.
          Quoth notalwaysright View Post
          I think all businesses do this when the Big Wigs come to visit. Even when hours are cut basically to nothing, suddenly it's okay to schedule an entire extra crew the night before they come, to clean up the store. I hate it! They need to freaking SEE how destroyed the store is because THEY force management to cut hours/shifts!
          1. Great sign that your management is freaking out in anticipation of the visit. They don't have control of things and don't know what's really going on.

          2. Bad visits reflect just as much on the bigwigs as they do on the store. This is why those big visits are always announced beforehand. It behooves them to let you do at least a little cleaning up.
          Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be evil.

          "I never said I wasn't a horrible person."--Me, almost daily

          Comment


          • #6
            Corporate needs to see the reality of the situation, not some glossed-up fantasy. Otherwise they get the idea that staff cuts don't cause a problem, so you can do more with less and the belt-tightening continues.

            Well, for the rank and file. Management _will_ take care of itself, rest assured...

            Comment


            • #7
              Quoth CrazedClerkthe2nd View Post
              - Also, be professional at all times. Don't cuss, don't complain. Not in the bathrooms, not in the break room, not even on the sidewalk outside the building.
              Can you be sarcastic?? Sarcasm isn't necessarily complaining. Sometimes it's used as a form of mockery.

              How about passive-aggressive?

              The sad part is, I think these corporate types are fully aware that the centers go to great lengths to "dress the place up" and act all proper while they're here. If they REALLY want to see how we operate, they should set up a hidden camera and watch it a few times a day/week/whatever.
              I partially agree with you. Corporate likely knows dress code, etc. because they're likely the ones that set/enforce the policy. That said, did the orders come from corporate? My guess is it's a CYA move by the manager(s) so that they "look good" (i.e. "Look! I'm running a tight ship here and everybody's happy!").

              A recent story of my own: The company I work for wasted time and money putting together their own video of a popular song and then rolled it out to the entire company (i.e. they put it up on the company's internal web site). It gave the impression that ALL the employees felt one way, when I know for a fact they do not. In fact, I know of FOUR just on the two teams I work closely with who have left in the past 2 months.
              Skilled programmers aren't cheap. Cheap programmers aren't skilled.

              Comment


              • #8
                Quoth notalwaysright View Post
                I think all businesses do this when the Big Wigs come to visit. Even when hours are cut basically to nothing, suddenly it's okay to schedule an entire extra crew the night before they come, to clean up the store. I hate it! They need to freaking SEE how destroyed the store is because THEY force management to cut hours/shifts!
                I hate visits for this very reason. So far, the last two (one which didn't even happen) I haven't been scheduled to work the nightbefore. I was on two nights before. First time, new GM, wanted the ENTIRE store fixed and folded perfectly. which made NO sense as it was Monday night, vist was Wed. And we were open on Tuesday!!!

                Manager finally told her look, that doesn't make any sense, so how about we clean (we have no cleaning company so we the employees clean the store), and the next night they can do the folding and fixing. I felt so bad for the GM. she is an interim, hopefully going to be made permanent, as we love her, and she is SOOOOOO much better than the last one.

                She was there, all day monday, until 8pm or so, Tuesday until 1am, and BACK again ag 6am, to get ready. she lives about 40 minutes away too. One of my friends, who also, like me, works FT, was there late. Second time, when the visit actually happened, same friend worked again, and was there until almost 11.

                First time, she whined she had no dinner. I told her, look, ASK if you can run next door and grab something. Since she comes straight from her FT job. I said no one will refuse that. So she did the second time, but then whined she was there late. Again, I told her look, let them know you can stay until x time, and that's it. they cannot fault you for having a FT job. But she is one who won't rock the boat. I know next time I am scheduled to work the night before a big visit, i will tell them up front when I can stay until, and then i'm gone.

                Comment


                • #9
                  wolfie - Tupperware has fallen victim to the same curse as Xerox, Kleenex, and several other brand names have -- people use the (usually Trademarked) brand name in lieu of the generic one without even realizing it. Note that the companies that still own and enforce these trademarks -- Xerox, in particular, really don't like this; they have been known to spend vast sums of money on (ultimately futile) advertising campaigns to get customers to cut that shit out. In some cases, such as "aspirin," "kerosene," "laundromat," "heroin," and "trampoline," the battle to retain the trademarked name has long since been lost.
                  "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
                  "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
                  "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
                  "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
                  "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
                  "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
                  Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
                  "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Quoth notalwaysright View Post
                    I think all businesses do this when the Big Wigs come to visit. Even when hours are cut basically to nothing, suddenly it's okay to schedule an entire extra crew the night before they come, to clean up the store. I hate it! They need to freaking SEE how destroyed the store is because THEY force management to cut hours/shifts!
                    If upper management wanted to know what was really going on, they wouldn't announce the visit ahead of time, and they wouldn't show up as a group, in suits. This is about stroking egos and pretending things are going according to plan, not about reality.
                    Life: Reality TV for deities. - dalesys

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Quoth Irving Patrick Freleigh View Post

                      2. Bad visits reflect just as much on the bigwigs as they do on the store. This is why those big visits are always announced beforehand. It behooves them to let you do at least a little cleaning up.
                      Yes, but reflect on who? Themselves? They should have a bad visit, that is the effect that their bad policies have on us. As mhkohne said, it's not about reality. It doesn't help anyone, not even them. If they only see perfection, they will never make improvements, and then they "wonder" why there is so much negativity toward the company.

                      We almost never get surprise visits. We are a good two hour drive from the nearest major airport. We aren't on the way to or from anywhere else, either. The only kinda Big Wig surprise visit is from our District Manager, and that (while unpleasant) is not the same as the few times we've gotten actual corporate visits. Oh, and they always come and leave before we open. So again, no concept at all of... anything, really.
                      Replace anger management with stupidity management.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        The only issue with the notion that they could improve things by being exposed to the results of their policies is the standard mentality that Corporate Can Do No Wrong -- It has been my experience that Despite any and all evidence to the contrary, most Corp types (especially inspectors) will treat *any* flaws as being the result of problems at store-level, caused by the workers and no-one else (up to and including slack sales during the slow seasons)...even if the issue is one directly caused by Corporate (e.g., lack of staffing/workers looking stressed/tired due to payroll cuts) or an indirect result of their actions (e.g., payroll cut > lack of staff > registers have lines 15 deep)
                        Last edited by EricKei; 11-10-2014, 06:21 PM.
                        "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
                        "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
                        "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
                        "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
                        "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
                        "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
                        Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
                        "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Quoth mjr View Post
                          The company I work for wasted time and money putting together their own video of a popular song and then rolled it out to the entire company (i.e. they put it up on the company's internal web site). It gave the impression that ALL the employees felt one way, when I know for a fact they do not. In fact, I know of FOUR just on the two teams I work closely with who have left in the past 2 months.
                          If they wanted to give the true picture of how the workers felt, they should have used a different song. Ever heard of a singer named Johnny Paycheck?
                          Any fool can piss on the floor. It takes a talented SC to shit on the ceiling.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Got to work this morning, having a chat in the back room with my 2ic, and get a surprise visit from the General Manager and National Sales Manager for the company.

                            Shop was a mess, but for some reason they expected that

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Quoth EricKei View Post
                              The only issue with the notion that they could improve things by being exposed to the results of their policies is the standard mentality that Corporate Can Do No Wrong -- It has been my experience that Despite any and all evidence to the contrary, most Corp types (especially inspectors) will treat *any* flaws as being the result of problems at store-level, caused by the workers and no-one else (up to and including slack sales during the slow seasons)...even if the issue is one directly caused by Corporate (e.g., lack of staffing/workers looking stressed/tired due to payroll cuts) or an indirect result of their actions (e.g., payroll cut > lack of staff > registers have lines 15 deep)
                              This. Our DM, who we all despise, and corporate will not take the fact that we were closed for several days due to a major weather event, and the entire MALL having no power, as well as the surrounding area having none, as an excuse for not making sales and numbers. nor will they accept closing early due to major weather conditions. Or when certain holidays fall in such a way, people take long weekends and go away, and so on. NOTHING of that sort matters. we still need to make our numbers. no excuses.

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